Tough economic times have caused one school in Ireland to ask students to bring their own toilet paper. Parents received the following request last week from principal Catherine O’Neill:

Dear parent, from time to time we will request your daughter to bring in a toilet roll to her class teacher. These rolls will be specifically for your daughter’s class and will be dispensed by the class teacher. We would also request that your daughter has tissues in her sack at all times.

Thank goodness children aren’t supposed to keep track of their own rolls of toilet paper but will share them communally. Really this request is no different than when I was a child and asked to bring in boxes of tissues.

Schools are strapped financially around the world, but some Irish parents were angered by the request. These parents view toilet paper as an example of how they are being asked to fund “basic running costs” of their children’s schools.  I think the principal’s request should have included a caveat requesting recycled toilet paper, even if it may contain BPA.

Image: Est Bleu2007 on Flickr under a Creative Commons License